Hidden Place - Weather Station - Early Works

I'll be honest, as my reviews keep going on I keep encountering music from all over the world, its like alice in wonderland without all the magic and excitement. Today's offering takes us to a hidden place in Italy named Hidden Place. My only question is though should it stay hidden? I don't know much about synth-pop music besides the really old 80's classic, and I don't know much about ambient music besides movie and video-game composers, but trying to mesh the two on paper doesn't sit well with me.

I've listened through the album a few times now and in comparison to my other reviews there is not much I can actually say for it. The mixing/mastering is a few drops up/down from average depending on the track, the vocals all have insane amounts of echo/reverb so it sounds like they are singing on a cliff, the instrumentals all come across as mixtures of the aforementioned synth-pop/ambient music. So why am I not particularly into it?

The album is competent, and its not particularly bad either. When it comes to critiquing there are three kinds of grades in mind. There's the good, the bad and the generic. And I'm afraid this falls under the generic. Its too bland to be good, too competent to be bad so it falls into generic.

It might be substance, it might be lasting appeal, to be honest I'm not completely sure what its missing. I have warmed up to a few of the songs, but I wont find myself listening to them over and over like I do with some more of my favourite music.

The mixing is a bit schizophrenic at times, but overall its competent. The style of the vocals are what gets me.

Its not a bad album, and if your into this sort of thing its definitely worth a look into. There just isn't much I can say about it really.

Pros: Ambience synth-pop blends reasonably well.
Cons: Vocals, Inconsistent mixng.
Should I (The Reader) Purchase This: If your into synth-pop, I don't see why not. Jun 13 2011